Smile for the camera : Jack and Chimpy

[deminks]

http://blog.citizensforethics.org/node/478

Bush and Abramoff have met. Here is the photo.

As we saw as recently as last Friday, the Bush Administration has gone to great lengths to prevent any access to information documenting a relationship with Jack Abramoff. But that relationship exists. CREW was provided a photo of President Bush and Jack Abramoff taken at a campaign fundraiser in December 2003. The White House did not want anyone to see this photo. So, that begs the question: What else are they hiding?

via Raw Story:

http://www.rawstory.com/

[eleny]

1. thumbs up!!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[CatWoman]

2. what eleny said

:)

[helderheid]

3. Ditto. This should be on the front page!

[Name removed]

35. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[KnaveRupe]

37. No Democrat took money from Jack Abramoff.

This was all thoroughly debunked back when the Abramoff scandal was in full force, and despite the best efforts of the right-wing noise machine and the corporate media, NO DEMOCRAT was shown to have taken money from REPUBLICAN LOBBYIST Jack Abramoff.

If you have information that would show otherwise, then please linkety-link, cause I don't recall ANYONE being able to refute Howard Dean's forceful statement that no Democrats took any money from Abramoff.

So, if you're going to call Democrats "HYPOCRITES!!!!!!" (all caps, and six exclamation points!), then kindly provide links, or STFU.

[Name removed]

42. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[EOTE]

48. WTF are you talking about?!?!?

So, Democrats have taken contributions from the tribes that got screwed over by Abramoff? And that's the same thing as taking contributions from Abramoff? Isn't that like saying consorting with the victim of a killer is the same thing as consorting with the killer himself? Who the hell are you to call someone else a zombie? Come back to me when you decide you want to be truthful.

[EOTE]

49. So, are you going to offer any proof?

Any links showing that Dems took money from ABRAMOFF (not tribal donations)? If not, I'd certainly expect you to provide an apology to the people you've offended. To do otherwise would be hypocritical. And we know how much you hate hypocrisy.

[BrotherBuzz]

50. You are addressing a stone

[EOTE]

51. Oh well...

About as productive as any other conversation I've had with a thug.

[KnaveRupe]

54. You, sir, are full of shit.

The reason we could barely get a majority in over 6 years of one of the worst presidents has more to do with:

a) The power of incumbency
b) Gerrymandering
c) The mighty right-wing noise machine
d) A press which has been complacent at best and complicit at worst
e) Idiots like you who believe the lie that both sides are "equally to blame" for society's ills.

Now, go here or here if you want to find out to whom Abramoff DIRECTLY contributed. (Hint: it's all Republicans) Now go back and read what you originally wrote. Here - let me refresh your memory:

Hey, Democrats DID take the guys money.

and

But man, the hypocrisy of Democrats is SICK. Take the guys money and continue to bash the Republicans for doing the same? What BS.

I'll be waiting for the apology. You can post it here, or you can send it to my Inbox, if you are embarassed.

And if you STILL need a little coaxing to overcome your shyness, read this, from Media Matters:

Appearing on the December 16 edition of MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews, Kornblut falsely claimed that Abramoff had given contributions to Democrats. Yet a Media Matters for America search of the Center for Responsive Politics database of campaign contributions did not find any contributions from Abramoff to Democrats or Democratic leadership political action committees.

Although Kornblut amended her statement to claim that Abramoff "had his clients donate to Democrats," her comment falsely suggests that Republicans and Democrats are equally enmeshed in the scandal surrounding Abramoff. In fact, while Democrats have received contributions from Abramoff's lobbying groups and his clients, Kornblut's statement ignores the difference between accepting contributions from groups linked to Abramoff, which is legal and proper, and taking contributions in exchange for official actions, which is illegal, and which is at the heart of the ongoing investigations.

Zombies eat brains, don't they? That must be why this conversation with you has left me feeling a little peckish.

[Ezlivin]

4. The two "top" men meet

You supply further homosexual references.

[stevedeshazer]

5. I may be way off base here, but this doesn't add up.

This photo was taken of Jack Abramoff just one year ago.



How much weight did this guy gain in two years?

Not to diminish the point of the story, which is to prove that Bush lied. Again.

[CatWoman]

6. he said that when his legal troubles began

he put on a lot of weight.

[stevedeshazer]

7. No shit!

Thanks, I didn't know that.

Dude's probably slimming down now on the prison chow. :)

[SeattleVet]

12. You sure that's extra weight? Looks more like ill-fitted body armor

under the trenchcoat to me.

[NNN0LHI]

17. I thought the same thing when I first seen the photo n/t

[Buzz Clik]

24. Armor cleverly formed in the shape of a pot belly.

[MADem]

41. It could well be both, but that said, you can get ballistic clothing

and hats, for that matter, (that look similar to the one the guy is wearing) that don't have that "I'm wearing body armor" look about them. That's fat the boy is carrying around, not armor, I think....

The Weekly Donut had an amusing take on the "unretouched" photo:


http://www.theweeklydonut.org/index.php/2007/01/08/actual-unretouched-photo-of-jack-abramoff-and-the-president/

[JuniperLea]

8. He's older... and he's been partying it up

Look at how different Chimpy looks. Not just in this picture, but many you see every day.

All those nights eating and drinking at fancy restaurants can do that in no time.

[MADem]

40. He got fat FAST. He used to play raquetball all the time, and he was very competitive

Which is unsurprising, given his personality. We aren't talking a leisurely game, we're talking the full bore hyper-sweat workoout. I suspect he had a tendency to gain weight, so he managed it aggressively with exercise.

Once his woes began, the press followed him, and he locked himself away with Twinkies and ice cream or what have you. What's that saying? A minute on the lips, a lifetime on the hips?

[NV Whino]

9. Nice if it's true

And I'm sure they have met, but that doesn't look like Abramoff.

[qnr]

10. Well, just doing a cursory image search on Google shows many that look similar

to the one in that photograph.

[Eugene]

11. A friend of Abramoff confirms to AP that it is genuine.

Campaign Photo Shows Bush With Abramoff

The Associated Press
Monday, January 8, 2007; 7:35 PM

WASHINGTON -- A liberal watchdog group published on its Web site Monday a picture of
President Bush and imprisoned lobbyist Jack Abramoff, the kind of photo the White House
has refused to release.

The picture was taken at a campaign fundraiser in December 2003, according to the Citizens
for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. It was taken by a private photo contractor
who posted it on a Web site, but then was removed before it made it into distribution, said
Melanie Sloan, CREW's director.

-snip-

Kim Eisler, Washingtonian magazine writer and a friend of Abramoff's, confirmed the photo's
authenticity for The Associated Press. He said he had seen the picture at Abramoff's house.

-snip-

Full article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/01/08/AR2007010801326.html

[orleans]

20. well, well, well....

"Kim Eisler, Washingtonian magazine writer and a friend of Abramoff's, confirmed the photo's
authenticity for The Associated Press. He said he had seen the picture at Abramoff's house."

remember someone was hiding a picture of them together? i can't remember who supposedly had it but...

maybe this is the one, eh?

[wellst0nev0ter]

13. Kickaroo

:kick:

THIS IS HUGH!11 I'M SERIES!111

[rateyes]

34. Yeah, Bush is screwn1111 lol nt

[spanone]

14. Most secretive cabal in US history.

[TroglodyteScholar]

15. Now, now...they're not a cabal.....

"Uber-capitalist pseudo-Christian death cult" is a much more appropriate term.

[highnooner]

16. It looks like they are holding hands

[Catherine Vincent]

18. LOL!

No comment.

[MADem]

43. CABAL = Christian(ish) Assholes Bent on Annhiliating Liberty NT

[meuniermr]

19. Has anyone checked..

to make sure this is not a photoshop?

[lpbk2713]

21. *An' Jackie, you're doin' a heck of a job.*

[spinbaby]

22. And the point of this is?

Being in a photo with his Chimpiness proves nothing. It's my understanding that every fundraiser involves lots of photo ops with lots of different people, many of whom have no relationship to the Chimp except for donating money.

[MADem]

44. The "point of this" is that the WH refused to release this pic and denied it existed

The contract photographer locked his website so that no one could get a thumbnail of it, and the web was "scrubbed" to ensure no one saw it. This ain't the only picture, either.

It's not just the crime, it's the coverup. Ask Nixon.

[YOY]

23. Oh, but you know *'s fundraisers, press events, and photo ops!

Just about anyone can come in off of the street for a pic with Dippy without any prior screening/filtering!

Jack just stumbled in after getting a Subway sandwich! :sarcasm:

[Brundle_Fly]

25. I like mine better.

[TommyO]

26. They make such a nice couple

Maybe W can join him behind bars.

[Buzz Clik]

27. Personalized stamp

[Rockholm]

28. He is SO THIN in that pic. Man, did he get plump!

Trails and tribulations can really help one pack on the pounds.

[usregimechange]

29. Where is the quote with them saying they didn't meet?

[derby378]

30. Say cheeeeese...

:evilgrin:

[usregimechange]

31. Here it is, white house denies they met.

"The President does not know him, nor does the President recall ever meeting him." ~Scott McClellan, White House Press Secretary.
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2006/01/20060104-1.html

[Catherine Vincent]

32. And that quote is correct.

The pressident doesn't recall meeting republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. It was a long time ago. The president takes pictures with thousands of people and we shouldn't expect him to remember each one. This picture also doesn't prove that the president know republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff. So there!

Signed,
A loyal Bush supporter

:sarcasm:

[Rosa Luxemburg]

36. If Bush gets his photo taken he has to 'meet' him

I'm not sure how one gets a photo taken with someone without actually meeting them?

[formercia]

33. How come Abramoff isn't wearing a hat and beard?

Schlepping his way into History.:sarcasm:

[MADem]

45. He was always religious, but only started wearing it on his sleeve when he got in trouble

Like Michael Jackson....he was always Black, but only "admitted it" when he needed some help from the community.

[formercia]

52. Must be his Goyem cover.

easy to take off, a long time to recover....

[MADem]

56. Well, to be fair to the putz, he didn't keep it a secret, and he was generous in his contributions

He founded the Eshkol Academy in MD; unfortunately, even in charity, he just HAD to find a way to launder money, and his contributions included dough he had ripped off from the hapless native Americans--Wikipedia did a good job of pulling together the salient points: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eshkol_Academy

The school was founded by Jack Abramoff and funded through his Capital Athletic Foundation. He sent both of his sons to the school. In all, about $5 million of Capital Athletic Foundation's money was directed to the Eshkol Academy operations. The dean was Rabbi David Lapin, brother of Toward Tradition's Rabbi Daniel Lapin.

According to emails revealed during the US Senate hearings into the Abramoff-Reed Indian Gambling Scandal, David Lapin was paid $20,000 a month, through Abramoff's Capital Athletic Foundation. Tax records show that Lapin received a total of $60,529 in 2002. The Eshkol Academy closed in 2004 after questions were raised in the press about Abramoff's financial dealings...The filings of the Capital Athletic Foundation show that Eshkol Academy received the lion's share of its contributions: at least $50,000 in 2001, $1,857,704 in 2002, and $2,366,512 in 2003. In addition, CAF purchased for the school's use a van ($26,060), thermal imager ($18,057), and Torah ($17,000). Eshkol purchases included two Zambonis, for a planned but never purchased hockey rink for the school.

Furthermore Abramoff established the organization Beis Avrohom Chaim as, according to the 2003 CAF tax return, "a religious organization" that "provides religious services for the congregation and housing for the Eshkol Academy student atheletes." In fact, a number of students were housed there. It received $251,242 in 2003 from CAF and purchased a house near to Abramoff's Silver Spring residence to house students from outside the area. It was occupied by students and the school's atheletic director/dorm counselor. Beis Avrohom Chaim was incorporated in June 2003 under Maryland law as a religious corporation. The trustees were Jack Abramoff and his wife; Shana Tesler, a former "Team Abramoff" Greenberg Traurig employee; and her husband Samuel Hook.

In 2004, thirteen former Eshkol employees sued the Academy, demanding nearly $150,000 in back salary. The teachers' complaint claims that the Capital Athletic Foundation "was used to launder funds from the tribes to Eshkol."

[formercia]

57. These guys are really good to set up vehicles

to launder money. The way they go about it, you might suspect a conspiracy.

Religious groups are a favorite because the IRS and FBI are careful not to look heavy-handed.

[MADem]

58. That is true. Unless it's the "Church of Vodka Tonic on My Back Patio" they tend to tread lighter

than they would with say, some poor bastard with "too many" deductions....and then, there's all that Faith Based mixing of church and state that screws everything up...

[formercia]

59. I contribute often

to the Sisters of perpetual self-indulgence.

[Patsy Stone]

38. Never met him.

That's not me, and that's not him -- it's certainly not us. I don't know him.

[LSK]

39. everyone try and save this pic

[PegDAC]

62. Done

'Tis now on my hard drive! :)

[emlev]

46. CREW wins $500 reward from Velvet Revolution for this photo!

1/8/07: Citizens For Responsibility And Ethics In Washington Wins VR Reward For Photo Of Bush And Abramoff Together

On January 31, 2006, VR, as part of its Government Accountability Campaign, posted a $500 reward for any previously unpublished photo of Jack Abramoff and George Bush together. Well, today Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, CREW, published such a photo on its website. VR will deliver a $500 check to the Washington offices of CREW later this week. Congratulations on the winner!!

Velvet Revolution website

[paparush]

47. CLEARLY a photoChop.....

no way the guy on the right looks THAT stupid!!

[Warren_Peas]

53. Of course he didnt know him...

He didnt 'know' him in the biblical sense.

See... This is how they will spin it and America will fall for it again.

mq

[jeff30997]

61. Lol! I love your reply!

Welcome to DU Warren_Peas !

[Independent_Liberal]

55. K&R!

Impeachment Time!

:)

[Botany]

60. From dubyaspeak.com

REPORTER 1: What do you hear or your staff hear about releasing of photographs of Jack Abramoff with you, Mr. President? If you say you don't fear anything, tell us why you won't release them?
DUBYA: She's asking about a person who admitted to wrongdoing and who needs to be prosecuted for that. There is a serious investigation going on, as there should be. The American people have got to have confidence in the -- in the ethics of all branches of government. You're asking about pictures -- I had my picture taken with him, evidently. I've had my picture taken with a lot of people. Having my picture taken with someone doesn't mean that I'm a friend with them or know them very well. I've had my picture taken with you -- at holiday parties. My point is, I mean, there's thousands of people that come through and get their pictures taken. I'm also mindful that we live in a world in which those pictures will be used for pure political purposes, and they're not relevant to the investigation.
REPORTER 1: Do you know how many?
DUBYA: I don't have any idea.
...
REPORTER 2: Mr. President, you talked about Jack Abramoff in the context of pictures, but it may not necessarily just be about pictures. He also had some meetings with some of your staff. So you remember, you ran on the idea of restoring honesty and integrity to the White House. So why are you letting your critics perhaps attack you and paint you with maybe a guilt by association? Why not just throw open your books and say, look, here is --
DUBYA: There is a serious investigation going on by federal prosecutors, and that's their job. And they will -- if they believe something was done inappropriately in the White House, they'll come and look, and they're welcome to do so. There's a serious investigation that's going on.
REPORTER 2: But, sir, don't you want to tell the American people look, as I promised, this White House isn't for sale and I'm not for sale?
DUBYA: It's hard for me to say I didn't have pictures with the guy when I did. But I have also had pictures with thousands and thousands of people. I mean, people -- it's part of the job of the President to shake hands and -- with people and smile. And I do. And the man contributed to my campaigns, but he contributed, either directly or through his clients, to a lot of people in Washington. And this needs to be cleared up so the people have confidence in the system.
...
REPORTER 3: Can I ask you again, why won't you release the photos of yourself with Jack Abramoff?
DUBYA: I just answered the question.
-- Actually, there were two different questions being asked, and he only answered the other one, White House, Jan. 26, 2006